The Sound of a Door Opening
by LizTerry
Summary: My take on an alternate ending to the hotel scene in 3x22 ( To live and die in L.A.) Caskett


Kate closed the door behind her and leaned against it sighing. Castle's eyes, his gentle smile… It had almost made her forget her fears, but in the last moment she had chickened out – again. Wait what hardass cop Detective Beckett being a coward? So not happening! Resolved she opened the door again.

Not a second too early as it turned out, Castle was about to step into his bedroom, but at the sound of her door opening he turned around again. For a long long moment their eyes met and everything else faded into the background. Their eyes were locked, while an entire wordless conversation went on between them. Kate's eyes screamed fear, Castle encouragement, her's portrait hesitance, his' portrait patience, but what they both had in common was a deep rooted emotion Kate was not yet willing to label, because it sacred her so fucking much.

"Rick!" she choked out. And then she stopped because she really didn't know what to say. He approached her slowly with his powerful gait which never failed to entrance her. Soon he was standing right in front of her. Gently he lifted his left to cup her head and stroke her cheek. His right hand gripped her left squeezing it lightly. "Yes, Kate!" he answered quietly between labored breaths. Kate looked at him panicked and confused, he knew why of course. She hadn't anticipated this situation had surprised herself and know she couldn't hide anymore, but for once Castle decided to not help her diffuse the situation, however pleading her eyes might be.

Ever so slowly he moved in giving her time to say no, but at the same time gripping her hand tighter so that she couldn't run, she would have to face this head-on. To his surprise her breath simply became even more erratic and her eyes clouded over with lust. So instead of kissing her he simply touched his forehead to hers, he didn't want this to be about physical attraction, lust, stress relief…. He had left that stage months, no, years ago, after their first few cases together. He wanted this encounter to lead to more, wanted it to be the beginning of something simply amazing. So when Kate tried to close the gap between their lips he pulled back a little, knowing that once she kissed him all rational thought would leave his mind.

Castle back away, that thought pierced through her lust induced haze, her eyes left his oh so soft lips and wandered up to his baby blues. They took her breath away and send her heart into overdrive all other emotions had left his eyes and only one thing remained, love. There was no denying it further. And she understood he didn't want to be strung along any longer, didn't want to cater to her every whim but in the end be left behind. It was up to her now. Her decision: let him in fully and share her burdens or walk away now and probably lose their partnership. For a moment anger flared: how could he put her on the spot like that? But then she deflated it wasn't his fault he had been more than patient and he would probably wait for months to come if she opened up even a little now.

In the end it wasn't difficult to decide, the thought of losing Castle too painful to even consider. And so she stepped forward and buried her head into his neck and nuzzled a little. It wasn't a kiss, but it was a huge step for her. He would have to go the rest of the way; she simply wasn't ready to make that last step without his help, yet. However, when Rick turned her head to face him and softly brushed his lips across hers, she melted. With a whimper she let go, kissing him was heavenly, she never wanted to stop. It was like a tidal wave knocking down the walls around her heart, opening a flood gate to her emotions. Tears began running down her face, sobs whacked a slim frame and Rick just held on stroking her back and guiding her towards her bed. They climbed in and cuddled some more.

Eons later Kate was on the verge of falling asleep when she heard Rick say those 5 little words "I love you, always Kate!" that should have, and would have if anybody else had said them, send her running for the hills. But Castle saying them just made her feel safe and protected with a smile on her face she fell asleep.

Rick watched Kate fall asleep his mind still reeling from the unexpected turn of events. They had kissed and cuddled and she hadn't run screaming for the hills yet, maybe they had a real chance. Quietly he said the sentence which had been at the tip of his tongue for months now. "I love you, Kate, always!" she hadn't heard of course being asleep and all, but for the first time in a long while Castle had hope. After the freezer he thought something might change she said something there "You should know how much I…." had he only imagined that she was going to use a word starting with an L? Regardless, of whether she meant to say like or love or something else entirely she had tried to share. But nothing had come of it…Deciding to simply enjoy the moment and fight for her (with her?) tomorrow, he drifted asleep focusing on her deep and even breathing.

Kate woke up a first the next morning a look towards the alarm clock confirmed it was still too early to get up and so she simply cuddled back into Castles warmth. Absentmindedly, she started stroking the hair away from his face. Two hours later Castle began to stir confused her squinted at her and then a breath taking smile broke out on his face. Kate looking at him: so happy so in love; couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth:

"I love you, too, Rick, always!"


End file.
